Talking about the Weather

Talking about weather in Portuguese involves using nouns and adjectives to describe conditions like temperature, rain, humidity, and seasons. For example, you can say O clima está quente for hot weather or O clima está seco for dry weather. If it’s raining, use a chuva, and if the weather is humid, say o clima úmido. The word for temperature is a temperatura, and sunlight is referred to as o sol. For describing humid or dry regions, use a região árida or a floresta tropical for tropical forests.

When talking about particular problems with weather, such as flooding, landslides, or droughts, the words to use are a inundações, o deslizamento de terra, and a seca. In winter (o inverno), a geada (frost) is common, while in summer, you might mention heat and fire risk: o risco de incêndio. Spring (a primavera) and autumn (o outono) are also important when describing seasons.

Examples:

• A temperatura está baixa no inverno.
• A floresta tropical tem um clima úmido.
• As tempestades causaram inundações na cidade.
• A seca prejudica a fonte de água.
• A poluição aumenta o risco de chuva ácida.

Using the Zero Conditional with Weather

For general truths about the weather, use the zero conditional structure with se. This is used to state facts and things that always happen when a condition is met.

Pattern: Se + present tense, + present tense.

• Se chove, as plantas crescem.
• Se a temperatura cai, há geada.
• Se há poluição, pode ocorrer chuva ácida.

This structure is useful for explaining natural reactions, rules, or scientific facts related to weather and climate.

Using the First Conditional for Weather Forecasts

To talk about possible future events depending on certain conditions (like weather predictions), use the first conditional. In Portuguese, this is formed with se + present tense, + future tense.

Pattern: Se + present tense, + future tense.

• Se chover amanhã, haverá inundações.
• Se a temperatura aumentar, o degelo acontecerá.
• Se a previsão for de tempestade, não sairemos.

You might also refer to a previsão (the forecast) or as probabilidades (the probabilities) when talking about weather in the future.

• A previsão indica risco de incêndio na floresta.
• As probabilidades de chuva ácida são baixas este mês.

Cultural Note

Brazil has a wide variety of climates, from the tropical rainforest climate in the Amazon (a floresta tropical) to the arid regions in the Northeast (a região árida). Issues like drought (a seca), flooding (a inundações), and deforestation affect people and wildlife (a fauna) in different ways across the country.